Apple beats 'Tetris' movie lawsuit
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the Apple TV+ movie "Tetris" ripped off a book about the game's history.
Taron Egerton in "Tetris" -- image source: Apple)
The drama-documentary film "Tetris" had reportedly struggled to find financing for years, before Apple TV+ bought it in 2020. It then went into production and was streamed on Apple TV+ from March 2023 -- and was followed by a lawsuit.
Author Dan Ackerman alleged that Apple, The Tetris Company, and others, adapted his book about the game without payment or permission. According to Reuters, however, the case has now been dismissed.
US District Judge Katherine Failla ruled that the movie and the book were not sufficiently similar. Specifically, she noted that both were based on the same true story.
"Since Plaintiff's Book is a work of non-fiction," ruled Judge Failla, "Defendants were entitled to use the facts contained in his Book in the making of their Film, so long as they did not copy his unique expression of those facts."
Ackerman's book is "The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized The World," and was published in 2016. According to Ackerman, he presented a pre-publication copy of the manuscript to The Tetris Company, which then sent him a "strongly-worded cease and desist letter."
At that point, The Tetris Company allegedly also refused to licence any projects based on Ackerman's book, including movies.
"Tetris", the movie, is available to stream on Apple TV+ now. It was written by Noah Pink, directed by Jon S. Baird, and starred Taron Egerton.
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